BRASELTON, Ga. - Horse racing has the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and
the Belmont Stakes; road racing has the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours
of Le Mans, and Petit Le Mans. Corvette Racing has already secured the
first two jewels in endurance racing's Triple Crown in 2006 with GT1
class wins in Sebring and Le Mans. On Saturday, Sept. 30, America's
premier sports car team will try to complete the collection with a
victory in the 10-hour/1,000-mile American Le Mans Series race at Road
Atlanta.

Eleven thoroughbreds have won the equine Triple Crown since 1919 - and
none has accomplished the feat since 1978. Chevrolet's thoroughbred
sports car has won auto racing's version twice, in 2002 and 2004.
Corvette Racing teammates Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen
are currently the most successful trio in the sport, having scored four
straight endurance racing victories since their win at Le Mans in June
2005.

"While Corvette Racing has enjoyed great success in the American Le Mans
Series sprint races, we consider the endurance races our specialty," said
Steve Wesoloski, GM Racing road racing group manager. "GM Racing built
the Corvette program around the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We know what it
takes to win an endurance race, and we thrive on the challenge.

"The competition in GT1 is intense, and every endurance race is now run
like a long sprint race," Wesoloski noted. "The team has learned how to
set up the Corvette C6.R race cars for speed, and we know that the
package has the durability to run the distance in the endurance races."

The yellow Corvettes have won the fall classic five times since 2000.
Oliver Gavin has stood on the top step of the podium in three of those
victories - with Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell in 2002, and with
Beretta and Magnussen in 2004 and 2005.

"Petit Le Mans is an entirely different animal than a two-hour, 45-minute
race," said the Briton. "It's one of those races where so much can
happen.

"We're going to have Jan back with us, which is always a pleasure," Gavin
continued. "He just slots straight into our team. But you have to make
sure that everyone is comfortable with the car and the setup, which we
usually are. We've done eight races together and won six of them, so I
feel confident that we'll go into the race with an excellent car."

Although the pace promises to be fast and furious, Gavin and his
teammates have learned the discipline of endurance racing. "Once the race
starts, you have to drive hard but be aware it is a long race and a lot
can happen," he noted. "It's not going to be won in the first stint; it
usually comes down to the last two or three hours. That's when things
happen - cars break, it's difficult to see, mistakes are made. The track
often gets slippery as the race goes on, and you've got to be on your
game when it gets dark."

At 2.54 miles in length, Road Atlanta is the shortest of the three tracks
that host endurance events. With the fastest prototypes turning laps in
just over a minute, race strategy is critical at Petit Le Mans.

"It's going to be busy in the cockpit because of the short length of the
race track," explained Johnny O'Connell, a resident of nearby Flowery
Branch, Ga. "Because the lap times are so much quicker than at Sebring
and Le Mans, the odds of getting caught out by a pace car and going down
a lap are much greater. Every driver is aware of the risks of falling
behind your rivals at Road Atlanta because of that pace car situation."

Gavin agreed: "It's one of the things the engineers talk to us about at
length," he said. "Any lead you get or any deficit you have can change in
an instant. That's what happened last year - we got a little bit of a
lead, managed to gain a lap during a caution period, and the competition
never got it back. But it could swing the other way this time."

O'Connell and Fellows will be reunited with their endurance racing
teammate Max Papis at Petit Le Mans. While O'Connell will have the luxury
of sleeping in his own bed during his home race, he'll also have the
responsibility of organizing his annual charity auction that benefits the
Alzheimer's Association and The Guest House, a senior citizen day care
center. Last year's auction raised $52,500. This year's auction will take
place on Friday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. in the Road Atlanta winner's circle.

"The auction last year was amazing, and hopefully we will score another
home run this year for the Alzheimer's Association and The Guest House,"
O'Connell remarked. "Almost every team and driver in the paddock
contributes something, from artwork and helmets to sets of tires."

While Petit Le Mans is the shortest of the three endurance races, it may
well be the most daunting because of the nature of the circuit.

"The straightaway at Road Atlanta is one of the fastest sections that the
drivers see in a season," Wesoloski reported. "It's a track that takes a
lot of skill and a lot of guts as a driver. Think about coming down the
hill into Turn 12 and in front of you is the wall. It's up to the
engineers to make the car stick, and it's up to the drivers to have the
confidence that the engineers did the right thing. When you get it right,
it's a big advantage in lap time to go through there flat out."

For the men and women of Corvette Racing, there is nothing petite about
the task of winning Petit Le Mans.